
The Tug-of-War Between Change and Staying the Same
You’re not the boss of me,” I mumbled under my breath, not wanting to do the thing I told myself I should do. Truth be told, I also utter this phrase when I know I want to change something about myself or my situation, but I don’t.
Or I do, but it’s incredibly short-lived. The difference between me and the 5-year-old is that he does the thing.
It’s a lot like New Year’s resolutions. You resolve to drink more water, go to the gym, eat better, or have date nights with your partner. But you’re running at full speed ahead, and until you’re not, you find yourself returning to your old habits.
Or, in therapy, there’s something that you want to do differently. You want to decrease your anxiety or communicate better with your partner. Only the progress feels slow, or the old habits creep back in, and before long, you feel stuck.
One thing I know that’s true about resolutions, whether therapeutic or New Year: They require some sort of change.

Using SMART Goals to Usher in the New Year!
How about we change it up this year? Instead of making some well-intentioned resolutions that you'll likely stop doing by, say, January 5th, how about you set an actual attainable goal and create a real plan? I'm talking about accountability. My favorite way to do this is by setting SMART goals.